geoDefense in Review – Tower Defense gets an Old Facelift

It seems like vector-esque graphics are the new vogue. With the rise in popularity of games such as Vector Tanks and Blue Attack!, it was only a matter of time before developers brought this visual style to the arena of Tower Defense (aka) TD games. This seems a no brainer given the fact that one of the better Flash TD games out there is Vector TD, a TD game that is done in vector graphics. Yet, despite the fact that the TD genre has a growing number of entries and that vector graphics may one day be passe, geoDefense does make a strong case in justifying its presence in your iDevice and within the TD genre in general.

geoDefense plays like most other TD gams. You select your machine gun, laser, lightning, missile, or vortex towers (which use the explosive force of destroyed creeps to create a chain reaction of explosions) and strategically destroy the creeps that come in waves. Each tower and creep is represented in vector graphics. This has a two fold effect of making each sprite stand out in stark contrast with the black background but also makes them clear enough to differentiate between each other. This helps geoDefense be one of the better TD games in terms of both aesthetics and functionality.

The five towers mentioned can be upgraded up to seven times. After a few upgrades, the basic nature of the gun changes. This usually happens with an addition of a gun barrel to your tower or an increase in speed. The creeps vary as well from more defense driven but slower units or the fast stars that are slightly weaker.

The game is broken up into three sections, ranging from easy to hard. Each difficulty level has 10 different maps that are unique in the way they predetermine the path the creeps move along.

While all this my sound typical of normal TD games, geoDefense has one thing in its favor that other TD games do not. It demands both intense thought and perfect execution. In short, it is an extremely difficult game.

“geoDefense is a Thinking Man’s Action Tower Defense… You have to develop a strategy and, at the same time, execute in real-time when things are moving fast. Think of it like Chess. There is your opening moves… The middle game is where you do your busy work of getting built-up for the final push at the end. The end game is where it gets completely crazy! If you didn’t have a strategy up until this point, no amount of fast fingers will save you.”

It is a truly difficult game. Yet, this is where the fun and frustration come in. There are ways to beat each level, but you’re going have to pay dearly to do so. You cannot waste any money as each new tower and each upgrade is crucial to your survival.

While this may not appeal to everyone, it does create a specific level of replayability as you will want to at least beat each level and then seek to score better than before. The level selector also keeps track of its current highscore. Even though I have yet to beat even a fraction of the levels, I do find myself coming back to the game, seeking for new strategies. While this is all good and fun, I do wish there was an endless mode.

So, if you do want a fresh and challenging re-interpretation of the TD paradigm, I highly recommend geoDefense. At it’s current $0.99 price, it’s a can’t miss, but be warned. You are in for a challenging experience that will keep you coming back for more.